Cults to Consciousness

Kevin James Thornton grew up in a small Christian town in Indiana. His early life started at a Baptist church, but once he discovered a Mega Church focused on rock bands and the youth, he became enamored and doubled down on his faith. A Jesus loving, self motivated chiId then teen, he loved his fully immersive church and heavily partook in extremely questionable youth events, but something inside himself felt wrong. Driven by his desire to fit in and “fix himself” he wouldn’t even allow himself to have the thought that he was gay. 

He attended youth group bible study religiously and went to inner city parks in NYC dressed as “sin” clowns to perform “morality plays”. They even put on extreme HeII based haunted houses with graphic scenes played out by the youth.  Things started to feel grim for Kevin once the group graduated high school and the boys he had crushes on coupled up and got married, leaving Kevin feeling more alone than ever.  Always having buried who he really was, it wasn’t until he escaped to college and found himself in a new group within theater that the inner turmoil would subside.  

Kevin dives into what it was like selling everything to move to LA to become a comedian, and how he blew up on TikTok during the pandemic by sharing his old bible study memories (with a splash of autotune).

Click here to watch on YouTube

Tour dates and tickets:  

Websites: https://www.kevinjamesthornton.com/

https://www.shamalahamala.com/

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YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNQbKNgL8bcuH8z4pzh9flw

IG: @kevinjamesthornton  

TT: @kevinjamesthornton 

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**Disclaimer: Thanks for joining us at Cults to Consciousness. This storytelling podcast is meant to be for entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for medical advice. We may discuss triggering topics and we ask that you make your personal mental health a priority. Lastly, the opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the host.**

Chapter Marks

00:04:24 Kevin's early church experiences as a southern baptist

00:06:58 How Kevin changed churches and why it appealed to him as a teenager

00:09:40 How this mega church appeared to be less conservative but doctrinally the opposite

00:10:50 What Kevin's parents thought about his dedication to church

00:12:14 What the messages were like at the new church

00:14:28 Youth group mission trips to inner cities

00:19:10 Messages from the church and the pressure to proselytize and bring more people to the church through events

00:22:35 Kevin's dissonance with his s*xuality

00:26:56 The story about home bible study during youth group

00:30:13 How people in the same situations can have different experiences

00:33:25 The mega church's haunted houses for Halloween

00:37:27 Kevin's feelings at the time on the haunted houses

00:39:06 When Kevin started to realize there were issues with his church

00:43:28 How seeing other gay people be acceptable helped Kevin accept himself

00:47:14 How his old youth group felt about Kevin's new life in college

00:49:56 How reaching out can make someone second guess the best path for themselves

00:52:17 Kevin's shift from his old life into the comedy scene

00:59:11 How an app and the pandemic changed Kevin's comedy

01:06:08 How Kevin is doing today

01:11:47 Linda, Listen

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